tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies... tell me lies sweet little lies

Justin and Molly sat comfortably on the hospital bed together. Justin, still exhausted, is lying down, while Molly is waiting for a marker to write on her brother’s cast. Brian swallows hard, holding Justin’s hand as he sits there, staring at his lover’s now-reset knee. He knew he shouldn’t feel guilty about breaking it, but he did. Justin turns to him and frowns, “Stop.” Looking up, Brian nods. He knew what Justin meant. Squeezing his hand, he smiles softly. ‘I love you,’ Justin mouths. Brian mouths the words back as Carl walks in with three other police officers. “How are you feeling?” Carl asks them. Molly shrugs, “I’m not cold anymore.” Justin smiles softly. He was grateful that his sister was alive, and incredibly thankful that Brian was there to help them out of the river. Carl nods, “Well that’s good.” He gestures to the three officers, “These officers are from the London city police. I’ve explained to them your situation from the best of my knowledge.” Justin nods, knowing exactly what that meant. Molly leans back against her brother, “We don’t want to talk about it.” Justin blinks slowly. He agreed, but knew that if it wasn’t now, he would have to be later. Carl sits down in an empty chair, “Brian, I can only say it was crazy luck that you were there when the car went off the bridge,” he reaches over and pats Brian’s thigh. Brian forces a smile. He hated hearing that shit. The doctors and nurses had been telling him that since he got here. Officer Bowron walks over to Justin. She's an older woman with a kind smile, “How’s your knee, poppet?” Justin shrugs. He didn’t want to say it hurt like a fuckin’ bitch, though that’s how it really felt. But the pain medication would be starting soon, so he figured he could ride through it until then. She nods, “Detective Hovarth tells us that your parents were murdered. I’m sorry for your loss.” “Thanks,” he mumbles. He didn’t want sympathy. Molly frowns, “What else did he tell you?” Officer Steele leans against the table, “That you and your brother left the US to live in France. What happened?” The siblings are silent, their thoughts on Richard. He was dead. And they were relieved: was that wrong? Carl clears his throat, “Maybe you should start from the beginning.” Molly looks up at her brother. He stares back. Sighing, he nods. She looks back at Carl, “I guess so.” Brian exhales slowly before bringing Justin’s hand to his lips for a kiss. He was proud of him. Justin doesn’t look over at him. Instead, he looks over at the window. It was still raining. “Tell us about your family.” Officer Bowron suggests. Justin shrugs, “Not much to tell. We don’t know much.” Molly nods, “We don’t know much at all.” Brian rubs the inside of Justin’s palm. Justin was never a good liar, and it looked as though Molly wasn’t either. Carl tries again, “Just tell us what you know. Tell us about your grandparents.” Justin shakes his head, “I don’t know anything.” “Me neither,” Molly adds. “Your father?” Officer Steele suggests. They both shrug, “We don’t know.” Justin continues, “He was a business man. He owned a business. I don’t know what he did or anything like that because I had no interest. He went on business trips a lot, and I don’t know where he went. My mother never told us anything and we never asked.” Brian is silent. That was the biggest load of bullshit he had ever heard. Officer Morris, who had been silent, finally speaks, “Alright, so what happened the morning before you and Molly left to France. Start from there.” Carl agrees, “Good idea. Just go from there, Justin.” Justin swallows hard. His mind starts to spin. He wasn’t sure how much he should tell. “Justin?” Brian asks softly. Forcing a smile, Justin looks over at him. “It’s okay, Brian. I can do this.” Turning back to the officers in the room, Justin announces. “I’m only going to say this once. After that, I’ll feign amnesia. So take good notes or something because we’re not repeating any of this shit again.” Molly nods, sticking her head up in the air. She wasn’t sure how much information would be divulged, but she was glad that she would never have to repeat it again. Carl and the officers look over at one another before nodding. Officer Bowron reveals a tape recorder and immediately hits record. Carl straightens up in his seat, “Start with that morning, Justin.” Justin nods, taking a deep breath. He holds it for several seconds, remembering the burn from when he was trapped in the car under the water. Exhaling slowly, he looks over at Brian. Brian’s expression is full of support, and Justin feels himself begin to relax. Turning back to the officers, he begins slowly, “I left a client meeting at Vanguard,” turning to the British officers, he explains, “Brian is a partner there. I was interning… I’m an art student.” Biting his lower lip, he realizes that isn’t very important to the scheme of things. “Um, I left the meeting, and my phone began to ring.” He is quiet for a moment. Remembering his mother’s voice; she was trying not to sound panicked. She was trying to be calm. She was brave. She was so fuckin’ brave… “It was my mother.” He looks down at his fingers. He missed her so much. He hoped she was proud of him. “She told me that I needed to get Molly and go to Nexard airport.” “Why?” Carl asks. Justin looks up at him and stares him straight in the eyes as he lies, “I don’t know.” Carl huffs, “Justin, come on, don’t play this hand. What did she say?” Justin looks at him, and everyone can tell that he’s trying to think what he should say. Finally, he answers, “She told me that’s something bad had happened. That we would be killed if we stayed in Pittsburgh. She told me to get Molly and go to the airport. That’s all.” “That’s all?” Carl questions in disbelief. Justin narrows his eyes, “That’s all.” “Fine,” Officer Steele states, “What happened next?” “I didn’t have a car so I stole one.” Justin replies simply. “You stole one?” Carl confirms. Justin nods, “Yes.” “How did you learn that?” Officer Bowron asks. “Google.” They’re silent. They can’t tell if Justin is being serious or not. Finally, Carl concedes, “Then what?” “I drove to St. James Academy and told the receptionist that our parents were in an accident and I needed to take Molly to the hospital.” “Why did you say ‘parents’?” Carl asks, leaning forward. Justin shrugs, “Why not.” “Well your father had been murdered hours earlier. Your mother was shot about minutes after disconnecting the call with you.” Carl explains, “So it appears to me, that your mother may have told you more on that phone conversation than you are letting us know.” Justin is silent. His face expressionless. Finally, he continues, “So Molly comes out and we go to the parking lot. I steal another car because I can’t remember where I parked the first one.” “This is bullshit,” Carl argues, standing up, “Justin, can you just be fuckin’ honest with us?” Justin remains detached as he stares coolly at the man. “We drive to the airport. We stop at McDonalds to get something to eat. We steal another car because it felt like the right thing to do,” he smirks, “and then continue to drive.” Molly continues for him, “The car gets a flat tire, so we walk to the airport.” “Who met you there?” Carl asks. Suddenly there is a flash of alarm in Justin’s eyes, but he quickly pushes the panic away and says, “I don’t know.” “You don’t know?” Carl asks, dumbfounded. Molly shrugs, “We didn’t ask.” “You just left with some stranger into a jet?” Officer Morris asks with skepticism. Justin nods, “We were tired. He seemed nice.” Exasperated, Carl throws his arms up in the air, “Can you tell us what he looked like?” Justin pretends to think about it before answering, “I can’t remember.” Molly nods, “Yeah, I can’t remember either. We slept most of the way.” Justin nods as well, “It was a quick flight.” “What about your passports?” Carl questions, “You didn’t have your passports on you. How did you get to Poitiers?” Justin shrugs, “I don’t know.” “We didn’t ask,” Molly explains with a sweet smile. Officer Steele holds up his hand, “Fine. Just continue.” Justin smiles smugly, “We go to my uncle’s house in Loire.” “He’s an asshole,” Molly adds. “Why?” Carl asks. “He just was,” Justin answers with a shrug, “We leave as soon as possible to England to start a new life.” “That’s when Brian and Carl found us,” Molly explains to the British officers, “And Carl wanted to talk to us about what happened. I went out for a walk and got lost.” “I went to look for her,” Justin adds. “And then our uncle Richard shows up and kidnaps us.” Molly announces bitterly. “He hit Justin so hard that he passed out!” Justin sighs, remembering the pain and bright lights before the darkness had taken over. “I woke up in the car. Richard was planning to take us somewhere. He didn’t say where. He just said that the guys that killed our parents had offered him a deal in exchange for us. So, of course, the asshole accepted their proposal.” Molly nods, “Justin began to fight him in the car, and Richard was hitting him, and Justin was kicking him… and then the car just went over…” she stops, feeling herself becoming emotional. Biting her lower lip, she centers herself before continuing, “We fell in the water. You guys pretty much know the rest.” Justin looks over at Brian and smiles. Brian smiles back. Though Justin had pretty much lied for most of the disclosure, Brian could have cared less. Justin was alive, and that was what mattered. Ignoring the voices in the room, Brian continues to stare at the blonde before him. He knew what had to be done. Brian was going to find those men that wanted to kill the last remaining Taylors and strike a deal with them. Everybody wants something. Brian just had to figure out what those assholes wanted.